North Karanpura Coalfield

North Karanpura Coalfield (Hindi: उतरी करनपुरा कोयला खनन क्षेत्र) is located in Hazaribagh, Ramgarh and Chatra districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The coalfield spreads over to Palamu district.

Overview

In 1917, L.S.S.O’Malley described the coalfields in the upper reaches of the Damodar as follows: "Near the western boundary of Jharia field is that of Bokaro, covering" 220 square miles (570 km²), "with an estimated content of 1,500 million tons; close by… is the Ramgarh field (40 square miles), in which, however, coal is believed to be of inferior quality. A still larger field in the same district is that called Karanpura, which extends over" 544 square miles (1,410 km²) "and has an estimated capacity of 9,000 million tons."^[1]

The Coalfield

There are large numbers of seams in the North Karanpura Coalfield, some with thicknes over 72 feet.^[2]

North Karnpura Coalfield covers an area of 1,230 square kilometres (470 sq mi) and has total coal reserves of 13,110.84 million tonnes.^[3]

Transport

In 1927, Bengal Nagpur Railway opened the 72-mile (116 km) Chandil-Barkakana section to traffic. In the same year the Central India Coalfields Railway opened the Gomoh-Barkakana line. It was extended to Daltonganj in 1929. Later these lines were amalgamated with East India Railway.^[4]Once the Koderma-Hazaribagh-Barkakana line is completed (expected in 2014), it will mean a new outlet for coal from the area. ^[5]

Coal-bed methne

ONGC’s preliminary assessment of coal-bed methane indicates that four Damodar Valley coalfields – Jharia, Bokaro, North Karanpura and Raniganj – to be the most prospective.^[6]

References